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Dominik Hasek
| birth_place = Pardubice, Czechoslovakia | career_start = 1980 | career_end = 2011 | draft = 199th overall | draft_year = 1983 | draft_team = Chicago Black Hawks | halloffame = 2014 }} Dominik Hašek (born on January 29, 1965) is a retired Czech ice hockey goaltender. In his 16-season National Hockey League (NHL) career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings. During his years in Buffalo, Domink became one of the league's finest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "The Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league previously dominated by North Americans. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion (both with the Red Wings). Dominik was one of the league's most successful goaltenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1993 to 2001, he won six Vezina Trophies. In 1998, he won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy, becoming the first goaltender to win the award multiple times. During the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, he led the Czech national ice hockey team to its first and only Olympic gold medal. The feat made him a popular figure in his home country and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to call him "the best player in the game". While with the Red Wings in 2002, Domink became the first European-trained starting goaltender to win the Stanley Cup. In the process, he set a record for shutouts in a postseason year. On October 9, 2012, Dominik announced his retirement and on November 17, 2014, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Playing Career Early Playing Career Dominik started playing hockey at the age of six in his native Czechoslovakia. In 1980, he joined the top hockey league in the country, the Czechoslovak Extraliga with his hometown team, HC Pardubice. Dominik became the youngest hockey player in history to play at the professional level at the age of 16. He helped to win two league titles in 1987 and 1989. The next year, he was drafted by the Czech army to play for Dukla Jihlava. After making his mark and eventually playing for the Czechoslovakian National team, Dominik entered the NHL draft and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983. At the time, NHL teams were wary of drafting players from behind the Iron Curtain who were often unwilling to play in the NHL or barred from doing so by their countries. Consequently, he was picked in the 10th round (199th overall) and was the seventeenth goalie selected. Dominik did not even know he had been drafted until several months later. Until 1990, Dominik played in his native Czechoslovakia for HC Pardubice and HC Jihlava. He was named the top ice hockey player of the Czechoslovak Extraliga in 1987, 1989 and 1990 & Goaltender of the Year from 1986 through 1990. His American career began with the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL where he played parts of two seasons. Dominik's NHL debut with the Blackhawks finally came in the 1990–91 season, seven years after the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Chicago Blackhawks In Chicago, Dominik spent time as the backup to Ed Belfour and played only 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks, splitting time between the Blackhawks and the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL. On November 6, 1990, wearing the number 34 (31 was worn by backup goaltender Jacques Cloutier that year), he made his first NHL start in a 1–1 tie against the Hartford Whalers. Dominik's first victory came on March 8, 1991, in a 5–3 performance over the Buffalo Sabres and on January 9, 1992, he recorded his first shutout in a 2–0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. During this time with the Blackhawks, Dominik's goaltending coach was Vladislav Tretiak, (who was selected in the 1983 draft), but he was barred from playing in the NHL by the Soviet government. Dominik appeared in game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins after Belfour allowed two goals on four shots in the opening 6:33, and had 21 saves. Although the Penguins won to clinch the Stanley Cup, his performance attracted the attention of the Sabres, who had considered trading for him earlier that season. Buffalo Sabres After the Stanley Cup finals loss to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago decided to stay with Ed Belfour and Jimmy Waite. Dominik was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for goalie Stephane Beauregard and future considerations which later materialized into a draft pick used to obtain Eric Daze. In Buffalo, wearing number 39, Dominik was initially the backup goaltender, first playing behind Tom Draper and then Grant Fuhr. After Fuhr was injured partway through the season, he was elevated to starter and soon developed into a top tier goaltender. In 1994, he won his first Vezina Trophy, was runner-up for the Hart Trophy and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Fuhr. Dominik played 58 games with a league-best 1.95 goals against average (GAA), seven shutouts and a .930 save percentage. He followed this feat by again winning the Vezina Trophy and again placing as a Hart finalist in 1995. Dominik's success in the 1996–97 season was overshadowed by a conflict with then-head coach Ted Nolan and the conflict created a tense, clique-like atmosphere in the Sabres' clubhouse. In game three of the first round series against the Ottawa Senators, Dominik removed himself in the second period and was replaced by Steve Shields. He suffered a mild sprain of his right MCL, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. However, the media and some teammates speculated he was using his injury to bail out on the team. One such individual was Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley, who wrote a column which detailed Dominik's injury & his conflict with Nolan and questioned the goaltender's mental toughness. When Kelley approached him for an interview after a loss in game five of the best-of-seven series, Dominik attacked the journalist and received a three-game suspension and a $10,000 (US) fine as a result of the incident. With Steve Shields in goal, the Sabres fought back against the Senators and took the series in seven games. However, Hašek claimed his knee was still injured and did not play in the five-game loss in the following series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Though General Manager John Muckler was named "Executive of the Year", he was fired for his constant feuding with Nolan. Dominik (who sided with Muckler) stated in an interview during the 1997 NHL Awards Ceremony that the team would benefit from replacing Nolan. Despite winning the Jack Adams Award as top coach and being popular with the Sabres fanbase, Ted Nolan was only offered a one-year contract extension by replacement GM Darcy Regier. He rejected this under the grounds that it was too short and decided to part ways with the franchise. This upset many fans, who blamed Ted Nolan's departure on Dominik's alleged attempt to rid him. For the first six weeks of the next season, he was booed so vigorously that arena workers would play tapes of a crowd cheering to help balance it out. As the season progressed, Dominik played well and won back many fans. He won the Vezina Trophy again, as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award and the Hart Trophy for league MVP. He became one of the few goaltenders in NHL history to win the Hart alongside Al Rollins and Jose Theodore and Hall of Famers Jacques Plante, Chuck Rayner & Roy Worters. He played a career high 72 games in the 1997–98 season, and set a team record with 13 shutouts. Six of these shutouts came in December, which tied the all-time NHL record for most in one month. Dominik once again won the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Hart Trophy and the Vezina Trophy, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win the Hart twice. He donated the $10,000 prize money after winning the Pearson Award in 1998 to the Variety Club of Buffalo. In the off-season, he signed a three-year, $26 million deal, securing the highest goaltender salary contract at that time. In 1999, Dominik averaged a career best 1.87 GAA and .937 save percentage, capturing him his third consecutive Vezina, and fifth overall. He was also a finalist for the Hart and Pearson trophies. Even though the Sabres did not have a stellar regular season and finished with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, they defeated the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs en route to a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Dallas Stars. The Sabres eventually lost the series four games to two, with the decisive sixth game being one of the longest Stanley Cup playoff games in NHL history. Dominik and Ed Belfour made 50 and 53 saves respectively in a sudden-death triple-overtime duel that only ended when Brett Hull scored a controversial Cup-winning goal with his foot in the goal crease. The goal was not reviewed immediately, so officials did not notice his foot in the crease until minutes later. After video reviews showed Hull's position, the goal was still upheld, leaving the Sabres infuriated. Dominik commented, "Maybe video goal judge was in the bathroom. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he doesn't know the rule." The following season, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that video replays would no longer be used to judge if players are in the crease or not and that it would be a judgment call by the officiating crew. After the season ended, Dominik contemplated retirement because of a combination of injuries and a desire to become more involved in his family life. The announcement stunned many of his teammates, particularly Mike Peca and Jason Woolley. In the 1999–2000 season, Dominik was hampered by a nagging groin injury. He missed forty games and failed to win a major NHL award for the first time in several years. Even though he healed in time for the playoffs, the Sabres were eliminated in the first round in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers. In his final season in 2000-01 with Buffalo, Dominik set a modern era record by collecting his sixth Vezina Trophy. He also won his second William M. Jennings Trophy. The Sabres played Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs again where he outplayed his 1998 Olympic back-up Roman Čechmánek. In the clinching sixth game, Dominik recorded a shutout against the Flyers. In the second round, the Sabres played a seven-game series against Mario Lemieux's Pittsburgh Penguins, which culminated with the Penguins winning the final game in overtime. Detroit Red Wings (2001-08) Before the start of the next season, Dominik was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in an attempt to lower the Sabres' payroll and to send him to a more competitive team. He was dealt for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a first round selection in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and future considerations, which eventually became the draft pick of Jim Slater. During his first season with Detroit, he posted a career high 41 wins with just 15 losses, helping the Red Wings earn the President's Trophy with the league's best record. In the playoffs, he led the Wings past the Vancouver Canucks, the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche and eventually the Carolina Hurricanes in the finals to win the Stanley Cup. During the conference finals against Colorado, Dominik became the first goalie to be awarded an assist on an overtime game-winning goal in the post-season after passing the puck to Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who then assisted Fredrik Olausson in scoring the final goal of the third game of that series. He also set a record for most shutouts in a post-season with six, broken the year after by Martin Brodeur with seven. That summer, Dominik officially announced his retirement so that he could spend time with his family and other hobbies. However, after Detroit's first round loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the following season, he expressed his desire to play again. This created a difficult situation for the Red Wings, who had two years left on Curtis Joseph's three-year $24 million contract which had a no-trade clause. Detroit was also under pressure knowing that the rival Colorado Avalanche would be looking for a goalie to replace Patrick Roy after his retirement. With Manny Legace also on the Wings' roster, Detroit now had three potential starting goalies. In the 2003–04 season, Dominik injured his groin after playing just 14 games. On January 9, he and the team agreed he should rest his injury for two to four weeks. Hašek privately told general manager Ken Holland that he would not accept any pay while he was injured. On February 10, 2004, he announced that he was not going to continue to play that season, surprising the Red Wings management. He eventually revealed that he refused about $3 million of his $6 million salary. In April of 2004, Dominik underwent groin surgery in Prague, and he returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate. On July 31, 2006 (at the age of 41), Dominik joined the Red Wings for the second time. He signed a one-year $750,000 US contract with added bonuses if the team succeeded in the playoffs. He posted 38 wins and a 2.05 GAA while leading the Red Wings to the number one seed in the Western Conference. Dominik also broke his own personal record by going 181 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal. Midway through the regular season, the team announced that to avoid injury and preserve him for the playoffs, he would not play on consecutive nights. Dominik played his first consecutive nights of the season on April 21st and 22nd against the Calgary Flames in games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He won both games, clinching the series for Detroit. In the next round against the San Jose Sharks, the Red Wings were on the road and down two games to one, but Hašek held the Sharks to three goals in the next three games. Dominik's 28-save shutout in game six tied him for sixth place on the all-time NHL playoff shutouts list and sent the Red Wings to the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks. However, he and the Red Wings lost in six games to the Ducks, who eventually defeated the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup. Dominik contemplated retirement in the 2007 offseason, but on July 5, 2007, he signed a one-year contract with Detroit worth $2 million with up to $2 million in bonuses, reportedly turning down $5 million for salary cap room for the rest of the Red Wings' roster. During the 2007–08 season, he was replaced by backup goaltender Chris Osgood, who had originally been traded away from the Red Wings to make way for him before the 2001-02 season. When Dominik recovered and got back into his stride, Detroit chose to alternate goaltenders in tandem instead of designating either as the backup. Detroit coach Mike Babcock announced him to start in the 2008 playoffs. During the first two games against the Nashville Predators, the Red Wings were victorious, but after a lackluster performance in the next two, Osgood was in goal for the remainder of the playoffs. Despite expressing disappointment at losing his starting position, Dominik maintained his professionalism in practice and continued to support his teammates with Darren McCarty citing a close relationship between Dominik and Osgood. Eventually, the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games for the Stanley Cup. On June 9, 2008, Dominik announced his retirement from the NHL, only five days after winning his second Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings, saying he lacked the motivation for another year in the NHL. With Osgood, the two of them were awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy for least goals against on a team in the season. Final Years in Europe\Retirement In April of 2009, Dominik once again came out of retirement and signed a one-year contract with HC Moeller Pardubice, the club where he started his long career. In the 2009–10 season, Dominik led his team to win Czech league title. He had three shutouts in the playoffs, one in the finals while his Pardubice lost just one game in the playoffs before claiming 12 consecutive wins. During the 2010–2011 hockey season, Dominik signed a one-year contract with HC Spartak Moscow. On May 15, 2012, Czech website hokej.cz reported that he had discussed playing for Piráti Chomutov after their promotion to the Czech Extraliga. On May 25, 2012, Czech sport website Deniksport reported that Dominik was considering a return to the NHL, possibly with the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings or Tampa Bay Lightning. However, the start of the 2012–13 NHL season was delayed due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout and Dominik announced his retirement on October 9, 2012. On January 13, 2015, the Sabres retired his #39 jersey prior to a game against the Detroit Red Wings, becoming the seventh retired number in Sabres' history. Career Statistics Regular season : Playoffs International Bolded numbers indicate tournament leader International Play }} }} Dominik's most memorable international performance came in the 1998 Winter Olympics, where he led the Czech national team to the gold medal. He allowed six goals in total, with only two of them coming in the medal round. Against Team Canada in the semifinals, Dominik stopped Theoren Fleury, Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan in a dramatic shootout win. He then shut out the Russian team 1–0 in the final game, stopping 20 shots. He was later announced as the best goaltender in the Olympics. After Dominik won the gold, he was quoted as saying: "When the game ended, I just threw my stick. I was so happy. When I saw the flag go up, I saw my whole career flash before my eyes from the first time my parents took me to a game until now." Dominik's play made him one of the most popular figures in the Czech Republic, so much so that residents chanted "Hašek to the castle!" in the streets. In response to this, he called the country's president Václav Havel and jokingly told him that his job was not in jeopardy. He also helped to inspire an opera (titled Nagano) about the Czech team's gold medal victory and in 2003, Petr Pravec and Lenka Šarounová named an asteroid (8217 Dominikhašek) in his honour. In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Dominik played for just nine minutes and twenty-five seconds, until he injured his right adductor muscle. Despite his absence, the Czechs managed to earn the bronze medal with backup goaltender Tomas Vokoun which Hašek received as well. Playing Style Dominik had an unorthodox goaltending style. He was extraordinarily flexible and was jokingly described in a MasterCard commercial as having "a Slinky for a spine". In order to cover the bottom of the net (where most goals are scored), he would drop down on almost every shot. His "flopping" style was derived from him flailing in the crease, using every part of his body (including his head) to stop the puck. Dominik occasionally dropped his stick and covered the puck with his stick hand whereas most goaltenders would use the glove hand instead. In response to the speculation he received from his style, he explained, "They say I am unorthodox, I flop around the ice like some kind of fish. I say, who cares as long as I stop the puck?" Dominik's unique style attracted fans to games. Because of his flexibility, he could make difficult saves that other goalies could not—an opposing coach once referred to them as "miracle saves". These types of saves include toe-stops, snagging pucks from behind his back, and a desperation maneuver known as the "Hašek roll". Dominik was also known for his strict regimen of conditioning. During the off-season between May and September of 2006, he lost a considerable amount of weight to increase his flexibility. Dominik was one of the last goaltenders to wear a helmet-and-cage combo rather than a contemporary hybrid goalie mask. The last was his former teammate Chris Osgood who left the NHL three years after him. Accolades NHL Awards NHL Nominations Czechoslovak and Czech awards International Milestones On October 15, 2005, Dominik earned his 300th NHL win in a 5–1 home victory with the Ottawa Senators over the Boston Bruins. He stopped 34 of 35 shots and was holding a shutout until Bruins forward Pat Leahy jammed a loose puck under him three minutes into the third period. Dominik became the twenty-second goaltender to reach the milestone and is the oldest goaltender in NHL history to post a 30-win season. In 1997, Dominik became the second goaltender to win the Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player in the league (Mike Liut won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the league's MVP as determined by his peers in 1981). He is also the only goaltender to win the Hart Trophy twice for most valuable player and was only one Vezina Trophy away from tying Jacques Plante's record of seven. Dominik's personal best shutout streak is 181 minutes and 17 seconds. Records In his nine seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Dominik acquired over 25 franchise records, including most all-time games played, wins, shutouts and lowest goals against average. He also holds the Sabres' record for most shutouts in a single season with 13 in 1997–98, and lowest goals against average in a single season with a total of 1.87 in 1998–99. During the Detroit Red Wings' championship run in 2002, he set franchise records for most games played, minutes played, wins and shutouts in a playoff year. He holds several notable NHL records. One of the most impressive single-game performances by any player in NHL history came on April 27, 1994. He made 70 saves in a 4OT shutout. The opposing goalie was Martin Brodeur (who was a rookie at the time), who made 49 saves before being beaten by Dave Hannan and the Sabres beat New Jersey 1–0. Dominik's 70 saves set a record (which still stands) for the most saves in a game without allowing a goal. Personal Life Dominik and his former wife Alena have a son named Michael (born in 1990) and a daughter named Dominika (born in 1994). He divides much of his free time playing squash and inline hockey where he plays defense. Dominik's brother, Martin is also a competitive athlete and played for the Czech Republic football team AC Sparta Prague before retiring and eventually deciding to coach. His cousin, Ivan Hašek also played professional football. When he was younger, Dominik played competitive football as a midfielder, and was a junior tennis champion in Eastern Bohemia. Hobby-wise, Dominik claims that he has been a fan of professional wrestling since his Buffalo days and says that he mostly follows his favorite wrestlers, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Don "The Rock" Muraco. Because of his formal education, Dominik stands out among Czech sportsmen. He earned a university degree after studying history and the Czech language in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové which qualified him to be a teacher and led him to teach high school classes. Dominik also has a brand of sportswear named Dominator Clothing which was launched shortly after the Nagano Olympics in 1998. It also had two locations in Michigan for a short time. Unfortunately, sales was short and Dominator brand was forced to end in 2008. In May of 2001, he founded the Dominik Hašek Youth Hockey League/Hašek's Heroes, and donated over $1 million to help underprivileged children in Buffalo play hockey. In 1998, he also organized a charity hockey game in Prague, and donated the profits to hospitals in the Czech Republic. Dominik is known to appreciate humor to keep team spirits up and often jokes about his resemblance to Cosmo Kramer of the TV series "Seinfeld." In the late 1990s, he was featured in a Mastercard commercial that praised his flexibility. On November 26, 2006, Mark Parisi's comic panel off the mark featured a comic about his childhood. In November 2012, Dominik announced divorce after 23 years of marriage. Throughout his long career, he has been represented by agent Ritch Winter. Inline Hockey Game Incident During an inline hockey game on May 18, 2003, Dominik was accused of assaulting another player. He was playing as a defender for Bonfire Střída when he crosschecked Martin Šíla. Two months later, the prosecutor in the case, Lenka Strnadová, ruled that there was no evidence that Dominik intended bodily harm and recommended the case be treated as a misdemeanor, punishable only by fine ($95 USD maximum), rather than a felony where jail time would have been possible. Dominik's lawyer, Pavel Jelínek announced in a statement that media reports about the incident were exaggerated, with Šíla not having sustained any documented injuries. In October of 2003, the country's top prosecutor overruled Strnadová, saying that her ruling was unlawful because the case had not been properly investigated. The Pardubice prosecution then investigated the case again, and reached the same decision as Strnadová. Category:1965 births Category:Czech ice hockey goaltenders Category:Chicago Blackhawks draft picks Category:Chicago Blackhawks players Category:Buffalo Sabres players Category:Detroit Red Wings players Category:Ottawa Senators players Category:HC Spartak Moscow players